Leave me alone!

October 2, 2008 2:37 PM

How can I get a modem to stop calling my cell phone?

It's actually my brother's cell phone. I have looked here, here, here, and here. Except this is definitely a modem calling. It calls anywhere from 20 to 200 times a day generally filling up his voicemail box. It's always the same number. The cell phone company (ATT) says the only option is to change his number. He has contacted various law enforcement agencies none of which have offered any assistance. He paid for information on the owner of the number and contacted the business listed. They said that it was their number at one time, but that they no longer control it.

Checking with some folks at work I got the idea to forward it to another modem, we'll see how that works. Another idea my brother has had is to hook up an old computer of his and constantly dial the number. Any other ideas?

posted by ericales to computers & internet (13 comments total)

AT&T has a fee based service that may help called Smart Limits. It allows you to block certain numbers, but it would suck to have to pay $4.99 a month just to stop having a number call you.
posted by ALongDecember at 2:57 PM on October 2

The only really easy way to solve this is to change the phone number. As much as people don't want to do that, it isn't as painful as they imagine...
posted by HuronBob at 3:10 PM on October 2

Your brother could press the issue with the police. This would involve at the very least appearing in person at a police station or department office and (politely) insisting that a police report be generated concerning the harassing telephone calls he is receiving.

I'm not a lawyer and I don't know what state you're in, so I don't know for sure whether the calls he's receiving meet the legal definition of "harassing phone calls" in his jurisdiction but even if they are, he probably won't get the police to do anything about them by just calling.

I also like the idea of forwarding the calls to another modem and using that modem to answer. If that doesn't work, I would try forwarding them to a fax machine and see if that works. It is possible to tell the difference between an incoming modem call and fax call by listening to the tones, but most people wouldn't be aware of the difference, so it's possible that the calls are from a fax.
posted by Juffo-Wup at 3:23 PM on October 2

He has been told of the smart limits thing and agrees that it would suck to have to go that route.

We're in California and this might meet the definition of 653m P.C., I'll have to look further into that. Forwarding to a modem didn't change anything. I've had several people listen when I called the number and the consensus is that this is a modem, not a fax machine.

Thank you for the answers so far, I look forward to more of them.
posted by ericales at 3:41 PM on October 2

I can't help but think someone at some phone company would be able to figure out who owns the number...
posted by niles at 4:17 PM on October 2

Why not simply ask AT&T to give him 'smart limits' for free? They probably would.
posted by kickingtheground at 5:16 PM on October 2

Have you tried playing the disconnected number tones into the phone when the mystery modem calls?
posted by 517 at 5:24 PM on October 2 [1 favorite]

It might be a fax machine, not a modem. They sound similar to the untrained ear. At work when I get these calls I forward them to the fax number and see what comes through. Alas forwarding might not be an option for you.

Try sending a fax TO that number asking them to stop? Yeah, I didn't really think that would work either.
posted by intermod at 9:38 PM on October 2

Forwarding to a modem didn't change anything.

Well, I mean, what happened when he forwarded the calls to the modem? Did the person operating the forwarded-to modem have the modem answer the call? If so, did the modem establish a connection with the calling party? If so, what connection rate did it report? Did the calling party send any data down the line? Did the person operating the called modem hit enter a few times or type anything to send to the calling modem?

If the modem didn't establish a connection, has he tried forwarding to a fax machine yet?

Also, what happens if you call the number on a regular phone? Does it ring forever? Do you hear a modem-like or fax-like tone? Other?
posted by Juffo-Wup at 10:08 PM on October 2

I just had him forward it to a random modem I knew of, no special arrangements, so no real effort and no real result. He has tried forwarding to several different fax machines, nothing has every come of that.

If you call it on a regular phone it picks up and produces the high pitched sound of a modem, it's not a fax-like tone.
posted by ericales at 11:15 PM on October 2

Some cell phones let you choose what ringer to play for different incoming numbers. I would see whether you can assign a null/silent ringer to this number.
posted by zippy at 11:29 PM on October 2

PUt his number on the do not call list. So when the number keeps calling you can then sue the person.
posted by majortom1981 at 4:46 AM on October 3

Maybe try what this guy did?
posted by tigerjade at 5:00 PM on October 3